Which phone should I upgrade to?

It's almost that time again - when my cellular network cleverly gets me to sign up for another 2 year contract with them, by offering me a "free" upgrade to my existing cellular device.

That's right folks, Cell C are giving me a free new phone... not!

Anyway, I thought I would put it out there and get some suggestions on what my next handset should be.

Here's my cellular device history thus far, right from the very beginning... my very first Ericsson GA318...:

- Ericsson GA318

- Ericsson T10s

- Motorola Timeport T250

- Sagem MyX-5

- Sagem MyX-7

- Nokia 6100

- Nokia N80

- Nokia N95

- Nokia N97

- Nokia E7

So no prizes for guessing which brand I am most likely going with for my next phone... :)

Things are heating up in the smartphone arena though, and right now there are so many players out there, all manufacturing spectacular devices.

A few that spring to mind are:

- Nokia Lumia 920 - Nokia's make or break flagship Windows device, after their departure from the long-standing Symbian OS.
So far it has received rave reviews all over the web... (pardon my bias - I have supported Nokia for so many years... :)

- Samsung Galaxy S3 - Samsung's hardware powerhouse, running Android and equipped with everything but intercontinental missiles... perhaps we will see those on the Galaxy S4...(which, incidentally launches in less than a month... what else will that bring I wonder?)

- Apple iPhone 5 - A strong contender by any account. Some feel that the evolutionary development of the 5 over the 4s has dropped Apple behind in the innovation stakes, yet this handset continues to garner steadfast support from Apple fans worldwide.

- Blackberry Z10 - Although Blackberry has been on a general decline in recent years, the Z10 packs in everything that Blackberry fans have asked for in the past. Featuring hardware that matches up to or exceeds current trends, can the Z10 pull Blackberry back from the brink?

Worth considering, I think...

Then there's HTC, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and others, all with their own unique spin on cutting edge smartphone technology.

It's a tough choice, and obviously my Nokia run has got me slightly biased in the direction of the Finns, but I still have a month or 2 to go, and in that time a lot can happen in the smartphone world.

So what should I get folks?

What would you get as your next smartphone upgrade?

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Martin Solveig - The Night Out: Awesome track & awesome video...

Nowadays every Tom, Dick and Henri seems to think that they can sit behind a computer and churn out "musical" drivel that often (unfortunately) ends up on the charts, even though it required about as much imagination and creativity as I have inside one of my armpit hairs... and that 'aint a lot.

Let me not start a full out /rant about some of these modern day electronic artists, but it is really rare to come across someone who can create a decent track, in a climate currently filled with a maelstrom of musical mayhem...

Decent music is one aspect - the image and attitude that the artist portrays is another important one that stands out for me.
A commonly found image among electronic artists today is one of being too damn cool for school, with heads about as huge as boulders on their little shoulders.
It's as if being able to tell a computer program to make their music for them just transformed them into the Bruce Lee of the musical world, even though you usually never hear them sing or play an instrument in any of their tracks...

With all that out of the way, French DJ Martin Solveig simply rocks.
He's the guy who created the 2010 hit "Hello", in collaboration with Canadian act Dragonette (you will know it when you hear it, trust me).
The guy makes decent music. He can sing. He pokes fun at himself. His music videos are awesome, and funny to boot.
He often wears a silly headband, but somehow manages to pull it off like you or I simply never could.

His music video for "The Night Out" plays out on the streets of Paris, where he shares a date night with his girl as they cruise the streets on a scooter, go for a spot of clubbing, and finally see in the sunrise while enjoying breakfast on a river boat (all under the watchful eye of the seriously funny-looking guy steering the boat :)).

Very cool - see if you agree...:

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To all those confused people out there, THIS is what a biscuit looks like...

South Africa is known for its unique slang and sayings that only we locals will ever understand.
I won't even start to go into them here - there are countless other sites and blogs that deal with the subject in more detail.

One of the ones that I hear a lot of late, has to do with this humble piece of food:

Yes folks, it's a biscuit.

See those crumbs?
Note how it has been baked in an oven?
It's an edible and probably rather tasty baked good.

Usage (or abusage, if that's a word) of the humble biscuit, goes along the following lines:

- Graeme Smith smacks a six during an innings: A common response to this might be a fan shouting: "Graeme you biscuit!!!"

- Friday arrives...: Someone who has had a torrid week might be tempted to exclaim: "Friday you biscuit!!!" 

Neither the captain of the South African cricket team, nor the last day of the workweek resemble a biscuit, at least not as far my eyes can see.

So there we have it - next time you want to compliment somebody or something that you like - remember the image above.

Then compare your object of affection with this image, and decide if you should be calling said object of affection, a "biscuit"...

Unless of course, you are opening a pack of delicious Tim Tams or something similar...

Then by all means, use the "you biscuit" compliment to your hearts delight :)

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Is this photo real...?

Today's Bing Desktop background deserves some attention...
Check it out - click to enlarge:

Now I remember when I used to dabble about in a 3D rendering software package called Bryce 3D, and this is exactly the kind of image that you could create with it.
The difference is that this is an actual place, situated in Nevada, USA.

It is called Fly Geyser (also known as Fly Ranch Geyser), and it was accidentally created in 1916 during the drilling of a well - how surreal is this place???
Quite apt then, that this psychedelic marvel is situated not far from where the annual Burning Man Festival takes place in the Black Rock Desert.

Seriously cool - my bucket list just grew by one item :)
Read more about it here.

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